Georgetown: Senior representatives of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GCCI) led by its President, Deodat Indar, Past President, Mr. Vishnu Doerga and its Executive Director, Mr. Kirk Hollingsworth met with the Governor of the Bank of Guyana, Dr Gobind Ganga and technical representatives of the Central Bank on Tuesday, May 2, 2017 to discuss the GCCI’s concerns about the foreign currency market. The meeting was a follow up to a previous meeting held with the Minister of Finance on 13 April, 2017.
Among other matters discussed, the GCCI President requested that a small group comprising of Bank of Guyana technical Staff, Governor and private sector officials including the GCCI be established to work together to examine the issues affecting the foreign currency market and the issues being faced by the business community.
The GCCI outlined its concerns to the Bank of Guyana and both sides discussed in detail the issues affecting the supply of foreign exchange including declining foreign direct investments, declining Guysuco foreign currency earnings and declining exports of locally manufactured goods and services. The Bank of Guyana and GCCI acknowledged reduced performance and lower commodity prices on the international market for Guyana’s traditional commodity exports (apart from gold) had also affected the country’s foreign exchange earnings and balance of payments deficit. However, Dr.Ganga stated that the Central Bank’s statistics show that there is sufficient foreign exchange in the Banking system to meet demand and pointed out that there are other factors contributing to the perceived scarcity of foreign exchange including the speculative demand for foreign currency.
The Central Bank’s representatives said they believed there was enough foreign currency in the financial system to meet demand and noted that the situation had improved in recent weeks. The Central Bank also mentioned that commercial banks, unlike non-bank cambios, are obligated to perform due diligence checks before they transact business.
The meeting concluded with the Central Bank agreeing to continue its constructive collaboration with the GCCI – the leading private sector body in the country. For its part, the GCCI welcomed the opportunity to have a frank and candid conversation about its concerns with the Governor of the Bank of Guyana and agreed to review the situation in the near future with the Bank of Guyana.
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